The Last Stand
by Grovyle Knight
Summary: The one and only deleted scene from SSBB: the taking of the Halberd, fanfic-style. As the sun sets, Meta Knight finds himself alone at the bridge of the Battleship Halberd. At this peaceful hour, the last thing he expected was to be under attack! Oneshot.


**DISCLAIMER: This story is purely fanmade. I do not own anything from Super Smash Brothers Brawl, any relating characters, Nintendo, HAL Laboratories, etc., and do not intend to infringe on any copyrights.**

**Alright, that's done and over with! So, you're probably wondering about the "deleted scene." On April 10, 2008, two statements were made by the creator of Brawl, Masahiro Sakurai, on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website, in a post pertaining to the secrets of the Subspace Emissary mode. This is what they said:**

"**Tabuu also has his eye on Meta Knight's ship, the Halberd, as a means of transportation for the Subspace Army. Using the Subspace Army, he launches a violent attack on Meta Knight and takes the ship for his own. During the attack, King Dedede engages Meta Knight, unknowingly making it impossible for Meta Knight to repel the Subspace Army's attack."**

"**The taking of the battleship Halberd, as well as the scuffle between King Dedede and Meta Knight, were not shown in the game, because those scenes unfortunately had to be cut."**

**So I decided to make a fanfic about it. This is my interpretation of what the scene could have looked like, except with the addition of a shadow clone Master Hand, and a few anime thingies like changing eye color, the Sacred Sword Galaxia, and Sword Beam, plus it's from Meta Knight's POV. Why? Because he's that cool. Enjoy!**

**_______________________________________________________________________________________________**

The Last Stand

A lone shadow crossed the sky, the light of the setting sun gleaming coldly

around it, and reflecting on the sea below. It was enormous, powerful, yet ornately

decorated with fragile-looking wings and a silver bow shaped like a mask. Cannons

extended from this ship from all angles, and a tower overlooked the bridge.

Inside the tower stood a figure armored with a mask similar to the bow, a

light blue ruff, and metal shoulderplates. It had an indigo body and purple feet. The

captain of the battleship sighed, placing its gloved hand on the ruby hilt of a golden

sword, and then cloaked itself in its blue cape. Golden eyes glowed from within the

slit in the mask, wavered, and changed to green.

_Interesting, how things turn out. Once, I was Lord Meta Knight, commander of  
_

_the Halberd. Now, I am a captain without a crew. _He smiled wryly beneath his mask.

_But although I may be lost, I will never be alone. When I find what I am seeking, I  
_

_believe there will be hope yet…_

All of a sudden, Meta Knight's eyes flashed red. Throwing aside his cape,

transforming into twin purple wings as it was flung over his shoulder, the blue

knight gripped the golden sword's hilt.

_Galaxia,_ he thought, _lend me your power._ Meta Knight drew the Sacred Sword,

Galaxia, which materialized out of lightning. Then, with a swish of his wings, the

masked warrior flew out of the tower, crashing through the glass and landing on the

ship's deck.

He transformed his wings back into a cape, which billowed in the strong

wind. Meta Knight waited in silence. At last, he heard a loud grunt from somewhere

below the deck, and the knight rushed to a trap door in front of a large cannon with

an arm-like extension, and held Galaxia in check, ready to attack as soon as the

intruder came through. The door bumped once, then swung open. The masked

knight suddenly stopped in mid-strike as he recognized the trespasser.

"Dedede?" he scowled. The penguin monarch had flinched at the gleam of the

golden sword, and tried to regain his dignity by puffing up in exaggerated grandeur.

"_King_ Dedede," the self-proclaimed ruler scoffed.

Meta Knight gathered his cape around him again and rolled his eyes. "King of

what? Those pathetic cowards?" the blue warrior drawled in a bored tone,

motioning at the trembling Waddle Dees that had climbed out and stood behind

him, holding onto each other so as not to get blown away.

King Dedede laughed. "Maybe for now, but soon I'll have more power than

you can dream of, marshmallow!" Normally, Meta Knight wouldn't have taken the

pompous penguin seriously. But there was something in his voice that sounded

more confident than the bully he was; and something more unnerving beneath even

that…

_Someone else is behind this. I wouldn't sense present danger if it was only  
_

_Dedede._

"And who offered you this power?" Meta Knight questioned. The king of

Dreamland pretended not to hear and instead summoned his army out of the open

trap doors.

The Waddle Dees not already on deck nervously clambered up, as did their

more courageous brethren, the Waddle Doos. Scarfies and Bronto Burts flew on top

as well. Even Gordos bounced clumsily out of the pit, while denting the deck itself

with their white spikes. Mumbies, Batty, Keke, Drifters, Sasuke, and Galbo had

apparently joined forces with King Dedede on this occasion, for they were behind

him in a heartbeat. Now, easily one hundred stood facing Meta Knight.

"What are you doing?" he puzzled.

"I'm taking over your ship, that's what!" As if to prove his point, Dedede

pulled out his enormous hammer and slung it over his shoulder using one flipper

alone.

_What would he gain from controlling the Halberd?_ Meta Knight wondered. But

he decided to put aside his skepticism for now.

"Hmph. So it has come to this at last…" the blue knight mused, weighing out

his odds.

Despite him being greatly outnumbered, Meta Knight knew his own raw

power, disregarding special attacks, matched the strength of sixty of these enemies.

But he could wipe them all out with a single Mach Tornado or Sword Beam.

However, the warrior had learned many times over not to underestimate an

opponent. He wouldn't be surprised if the penguin had another trick up his sleeves.

_Especially because of that odd sensation,_ Meta Knight added silently.

"Very well! Since you have left me with no other option… I have no choice but

to defeat you, Dedede!" Galaxia began to glow, as radiant as its holder's fiery eyes.

"Oh no, you don't!" exclaimed the penguin, with a note of triumph in his tone.

He quickly whipped out a large, dark box of some sort, and then thrust it open. At

first, there was nothing. Then, slowly, purple material started oozing over the edge.

It moved alike to any liquid, but it was clear this was no ordinary substance.

_Dark Matter?!_ gasped Meta Knight internally. He looked again, and realized

that it was in fact a mass of shadowy, insect-like creatures. They dripped onto the

ground, unruffled by the violent gusts of wind, and slowly began to join together,

forming a giant, grounded cloud that grew larger and larger. The cloud distorted and

stretched in multiple directions, until it transformed into a giant glove.

_No. Not Dark Matter. Something far worse!_ Master Hand boomed.

_But… you are not Master Hand! You cannot be!_

_Correct._ But the imposter did not say anything more, and instead snapped its

fingers. At the glove's command, millions and millions of the shadow insects

exploded from the box, mutating into horrific, purple soldiers with blank eyes and

tears in their backs, where shadows spilled out and dissolved into nothing.

Thousands of them joined Dedede's army, thwarting it in comparison, and

surrounded Meta Knight from all sides until the battleship was completely covered

with the strange minions, while the false Master Hand floated above him, laughing in

his head. _The Halberd is ours for the taking!_

Cold dread clutched at the knight. He recalculated the odds. It was

approximately three thousand to one, and that was not including King Dedede or the

mysterious hand. It had all been a trap, and now the Master Hand-like thing was

going to achieve its ambitions after all.

"Heh, heh, heh!" the king chuckled, grinning nastily. "How d'you like that?!

Now surrender your ship, or face the consequences!"

_Even Dedede is being used as a tool. Willingly or not, he has stumbled into this too!  
_

But Meta Knight knew what he must do. In a flash, he shouted, "Galaxia

Sword Beam!" A crescent of light flew from the sword, destroying half of King

Dedede's army and some of the other army's soldiers with either the crescent itself

or the fissure in the hull, coursing with blue lighting, that resulted from it.

He fired another Sword Beam and carved a narrow path through the

thousands of enemies, decimating them and leaving a yawning chasm in its place. He

changed his cape into wings and even with the wind against him, glided over it with

ease, dodging and rolling in the air to avoid projectile attacks from some members

of Dedede's army and the shadow army alike.

Meta Knight landed on the bow of the ship, facing into the wind. He heard the

enemies approaching behind him, and closed his eyes.

_What will you do now, Meta Knight?_ the imposter jeered. _Will you stand and  
_

_fight? Or will you flee like the coward you are?_

The blue warrior did not respond. At last he whirled around, cape fluttering,

and opened his eyes, crimson as the rage blazing inside him.

"Mark my words," he murmured calmly despite his fierce anger. "You have

not seen the last of me."

With that, Meta Knight turned and leaped, falling into the abyss of blood-

stained sky below.

**_____________________________________________________________________________________________**

…**And that is where the Subspace Emissary mode as you know it begins. (Well, except on a battlefield where Kirby and Mario are facing off, but you get the point.)**

**If you were wondering why I don't continue this, it's because there is no continuation, really, other than Meta Knight somehow getting to Marth, and from then on there's cutscenes to explain everything. Besides, it's called a Oneshot for a reason.**

**This would've made a sweet prologue, though.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading! Review and fav if you feel like it.**


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